Powerless and scared??? IM a mother..my kid is 2 and a half and if I saw someone do a 10th of that to my becky I wouldnt think twice in killing them...no one harms my girl

I hope that the mother get done for it and I hope that sick freak of a rotton b****** dies a SLOW DEATH the cowardly sick frweaky b******

possibility-
could have watched in utter agony but sometimes fear paralyses

I despise anyone who would harm a child, either directly or through inaction. If any man feels the need to beat a child, bring it here, muster all the rage you possibly can, do all the drugs you want and come to me. I'll put you in the ground.

The rage i would feel at seeing this happen to a small child would make me kill this guy ten times over. Not acting against this guy at all is inexplicable and a crime. The women is almost as guilty as the guy who beat this child to death.

God...this makes me so angry. Someone needs to kill the father.

You would think that our "God" would do something to prevent this from happening? Maybe just have someone ring the freaking doorbell or something simple like that to save a life.

I think there are a few issues some people are overlooking. First, the Cocaine in his system - Cocaine is an extremely powerful and addictive stimulant, but more importantly, as it stimulates the body to action, it also stimulates the aggressive tendencies in people (unlike alcohol, as some have said, this does not just bring out "another side to a person" - it completely changes them - there's a reason drugs are illegal). People who go into Cocaine and Ice-related rages have been referred to by Policemen (at least in the Sydney region, where I live) as "possessed", showing strength three or even four times that of regular people not influenced by drugs.

Second, Battered Person Syndrome. We don't know the history of the couple. Battered persons (usually women, but sometimes men) have been mentally and physically abused to the point that they actually believe that the beatings they receive are deserved and it is their fault. This leads to acceptance, and ultimately dominance of the other person in everything they do. In cases such as this, a person's spirit may have been utterly broken, and was psychologically powerless to stand in his way.

I'm not sure about the woman's drug-state. Cocaine does not really affect ability to think, though it does increase paranoia. Thus if they were both on the same drug, she could have rationally reasoned that this was wrong and gone into her own drug-induced rage. Which leads back to the first point about Battered Person Syndrome.

I don't think anyone that says she should be punished has ever considered or looked at the Battered Person's Syndrome. Until it is proven that she was not a victim as much as the child was, I would tend to go with this view, contrary to the outrage about her inability to jump into action. Obviously something stopped her from acting on her natural instinct, and it is unfair (at the very least) to say it is because she was an unfit mother. If it is Battered Woman's Syndrome, then to say she's unfit to be a parent is only reinforcing to her the completely wrong view that everything that has happened to her is really her own fault.

Just something to think about.

On a personal note - this is indeed one of the most tragic things I have ever read. The saddest thing is that things like this are not completely uncommon.

Paranoid Android - That's what I've been trying to say, thanks.

Thanks, P.A., for expanding on those points.

My problem with this story is that there isn't enough information about the mother's background and relationship to/with this man. It feels like there's something important missing in the story; almost like the story was written that way to sensationalize it in the sense of "Oh my God! That horrible man; and can you believe that mother?!"....

JMO.

I have two points on this subject. 1. This is quite disturbing and 2. The mother is a horrible liar. Any caring mother would have intervened. So my only conclusion can be is that she didn't care, and was probably coced out too.

Spoken like a real mom.

So because I think there may be more to the story in regards to the mother, and aren't jumping to condemn her until I hear more information, means I'm not a real mother? Even though if I ever saw someone hurting my daughter I'd beat the living s*** out of them? Just curious as to that remark.